A Study of the Effectiveness of Radio Marketing

Abstract

The potential usage of the radio medium and its implications for marketing have not been extensively explored in the Sri Lankan context. Media expenditure in Sri Lanka continues to be driven by perceptions rather than evidence. Brand equity and its measures are essential intangible assets in marketing communication, and they are instrumental in measuring marketing effectiveness. We conducted this study to examine the relative strength of the radio medium in driving various media attributes towards building brand equity and to investigate the differences between expert perceptions and consumer-based findings regarding the relative strength of the radio medium. Telephone surveys were conducted using a structured questionnaire in the Western Province of Sri Lanka among a randomly selected sample of four hundred twenty-five respondents (425) from an already recruited sample drawn by a reputed marketing research organisation and among a sample of media experts representing more than 50% of the Sri Lankan media industry. Responses were analysed using ordered logistic regression analysis, descriptive analysis, the Wilcoxon rank-sum test, and Kruskal-Wallis H tests. Findings reveal that the radio medium is more potent than press media but less potent than television and social media in delivering media attributes. The results also indicate the differences between expert perception and consumer-based evidence on how strong the radio media advertising strategies are and how strong the radio medium is as a brand recall medium compared to the other media. These research findings provide implications for the media industry in Sri Lanka by highlighting the need for re-evaluating the current industry practise in allocating budgets across media, giving the direction for media planners in deciding the role of each media channel in delivering the campaign objectives and the potential of the radio medium in delivering recall attributes.

Keywords: Radio Marketing Communication, Media Mix Elements, Marketing Effectiveness, Media Attributes, Brand Equity